PSPO-I Premium Exam Questions

The Product Owner and the Scrum Master are essential roles in the Scrum Team. They have distinct accountabilities and responsibilities that contribute to the success of the product and the team. The Product Owner is responsible for maximizing the value of the product and the work of the Developers. The Scrum Master is responsible for promoting and supporting Scrum and the Scrum Team. Both roles need to be fully engaged and available to the Scrum Team throughout the Sprint.

 If the Product Backlog is not sufficiently clear at Sprint Planning, the Developers will find it difficult to create a Sprint forecast they are confident they can meet. This is because:

• Sprint Planning is an event where the Scrum Team plans for the upcoming Sprint. The purpose of Sprint Planning is to align the entire Scrum Team around a common goal and a plan for delivering an Increment that meets that goal.
• The Developers are accountable for creating a Sprint forecast, which is a selection of Product Backlog items that they intend to work on during the Sprint. The Sprint forecast should be realistic, achievable, and valuable.
• The Product Owner is accountable for ensuring that the Product Backlog is transparent, visible, and understood by everyone who needs to work on it. They must collaborate with the Developers and provide clarifications, feedback, and guidance on what items are most important and valuable for the product.
• If the Product Backlog is not sufficiently clear at Sprint Planning, it means that there are items that are not well defined, ordered, or estimated. This may make it hard for the Developers to understand what they are supposed to build and why. It may also make it hard for them to estimate how much work they can do or how long it will take them to do it. This may result in a poor or inaccurate Sprint forecast that may affect the quality or value of the Increment.

Other options, such as the Product Owner selecting the Sprint Goal for the Scrum Team so that work can begin, nothing in particular happening, the Scrum Master not allowing this to happen or looking for a new Scrum Master and re-starting the Sprint, or Sprint Planning being canceled so refinement can be done first, are not valid answers as they do not reflect what typically happens or what should happen in Scrum.

References:

• [Scrum Guide], page 14, section “Sprint Planning”
• [Scrum Guide], page 7, section “Developers”
• [Scrum Guide], page 6, section “Product Owner”
• [Scrum Guide], page 11, section “Product Backlog”

 The Product Owner must spend enough time with the Developers so that they are confident the Increment will meet the intended value. This is because:

• The Developers are accountable for creating a “Done” Increment in every Sprint. They must ensure that every Product Backlog item they work on meets the Definition of Done before it is considered complete.
• The Product Owner is accountable for maximizing the value of the product resulting from the work of the Scrum Team. They must inspect the Increment at the end of each Sprint and assess how it delivers value and contributes to the Product Goal.
• The Product Owner and the Developers must collaborate closely throughout the Sprint to ensure that they have a shared understanding of what they are building and why. The Product Owner must provide clarifications, feedback, and guidance to the Developers as needed to help them create a valuable Increment.
• The amount of time that the Product Owner must spend with the Developers may vary depending on the context, complexity, and uncertainty of the product development. However, it should be enough so that both parties are confident that the Increment will meet the intended value.

Other options, such as 40%, as much time as the Developers tell them to be present, or 100%, are not valid answers as they imply a fixed or arbitrary amount of time that does not reflect the actual needs and dynamics of the product development.

References:

• [Scrum Guide], page 7, section “Developers”
• [Scrum Guide], page 6, section “Product Owner”
• [Scrum Guide], page 10, section “Definition of Done”
• [Scrum Guide], page 10, section “Increment”
• [Scrum Guide], page 10, section “Product Goal”